The fall of the Golden Pheonix
by orionrage29
Summary: Continuing where we left off on ROTRM, Jordan and Dylan find out that Logan Lincoln and his son have been kidnapped by the infamous Phantom Task. Logan left a message and a destination of his current location. The wheeler family decides to make a bit of their own task force and fight to free the two geniuses. But can Jordan hold back his thirst for revenge? Or will it consume him?
1. Home

The fall of the Golden Pheonix

Chapter One

Home

"Your uncle logan and his son have been captured by phantom task." Akihiko said.

"What? How?! They have no real reason to take them?!" Jordan grabbed the phone, yelling into it.

"Do you remember what I told you About Logan and Luke, right? Luke's about your age but he's already learned enough to succeed his father, and even go past his father, based on the way things have been going. His IQ matches even that of Tabane already, and he's only as old as chifuyu!" Akihiko explains.

"Oh really?" Jordan grins.

"Now is not the time to go shipper mode." Dylan holds back a smile.

"I'm sorry, that is something I can't control, it just plain happens." Jordan says.

"I know right?!" Jessica agrees.

"Honey…" Akihiko says.

"MOM!" Dylan yells.

"Exactly, mom." Jordan smiles.

"I love you honey, but please, we need to be serious here." Akihiko looks at her.

"I know, but we should still keep calm and smile." Jessica grins.

"Yeah, we'll help rescue them anyway. Me and Dylan are both already in second shift by the way." Jordan smiles.

"WOW! Already?! What are their new names?!" Akihiko holds the phone to his mouth.

"New… Names?" Dylan tilts his head, confused.

"Yeah, your IS should have a new designation." Akihiko nodded.

"Oh…" Jordan looks at his necklaces and activates "Red blood" in origin form. "Bloody wrath…"

Dylan taps his arm and a screen pops up. "Poison Hades…"

"Well, those are some interesting names…" Cecilia says.

"Was that a girl I just heard?" Jessica looks at her husband. "That voice sounded familiar, is Cecilia with you?"

"Yes mom, she's right here." Jordan smiles.

"How are you two doing?" Jessica lifts her brow.

"We're doing well, Jessica." Cecilia says.

"No, I mean how are you two _**doing?**_" Jessica grins.

"Oh… Well…" Jordan hesitates. "She's my girlfriend now."

"**FINALLY!"** Jessica laughs, so does Cecilia. However Jordan had decided it would be a good idea to become a tomato at that moment.

"I know mom, I know, I took way too long." Jordan looks down.

"Yes, you did, but it's okay, I forgive you." Cecilia grabs his hand. The Jordan tomato became riper.

"What about you, Dylan? Did you find anyone?" Jessica smiles. Well, they are twins after all…

"NO! I AM STAYING STRICTLY PROFESSIONAL!" The Dylan tomato answers.

"Aww, he's just as shy as us honey." Akihiko smiles.

"I'M LISTENING!" The Dylan tomato ripens.

"We know, we know." Jessica grins

"Now that the comic relief part is done, can we go back to being serious?" Akihiko lets his smile drop to a serious face. "We received a voice message from Logan, sent through my eye. I'll play the message now."

"Okay, listen, something you don't know about your old buddy Logan is that he is a very infamous hacker. I found out something juicy on Tabane and Chifuyu, but that's not what got me here. I also found the truth behind the mondo grosso that year. The people who attacked you had kidnapped Ichika but Chifuyu saved him, forfeiting the match due to absence. They are going around trying to find strong IS's and steal them. I don't know their intentions, but I know that there's nothing good about their motives. They know that Jordan is an IS pilot now, and know of his capabilities. If you show this to them Wheeler, and hopefully you do, tell them that if they should face a mysterious person tell them to not engage. Tell them to stay back, they have the best tracker technology ever made and if they start tracking you, you can't get the tracker out, it's in your DNA, it's a part of you in that case. They only have one major attack force but they have more manpower than it seems. Once again, tell them, do not engage. Whatever they do, DO NOT ENGA-" The message cuts off.

The phone drops.

"Dylan? Jordan? Is everything alright?" Akihiko frowns and his eyes go wide as he realizes what happened. "We have a lot to talk about you two."

"Yeah, that we do dad." Dylan looks down.

"Start from the beginning. What happened?" Akihiko crosses his arm and stares blankly at the phone.

"So, when I came to the school, to analyze Ichika, I ran into Jordan in the woods first. I was looking for him. I was angry, because I felt that he had all the time with you guys that I could have had. Him and I fought and he lost, and we talked things over. We both came to realize the others point of view and we both just made up and talked and it was a very touching moment, by that weird mans point of view. He had come out of nowhere, he was in a pitch black IS and he shot me with this crossbow on the arm of my IS and I felt something dig in. I felt a little bit of pain in my arm, but it must have had an anesthetic, because the pain lasted for merely a second." Dylan explains.

"We fought him and one, but you could tell that he wasn't fighting with his all, his only objective was to put a tracker on us. He only got me later when I become unconscious, when I was doing a classified mission. The details cannot be given out at the moment due to their high level of classification. All we can say is that we fought and we won. There is no more details we can give dad, there are some things even you can't be allowed to know." Jordan said.

"Oh, alright. This means both of you are being tracked by the people who once wanted to kill us. We wanted to keep you out of this, but it seems that that feat was impossible. You need to get over here, and then you two, and your mother will have to fight some of these people. They keep low, but I have tracked the message to one of their locations. It is highly likely that this is not one of their main bases, and it is highly likely that it is still extremely dangerous. There will be multiple people there and an ambush will be set, which is why we need you to fight as hard as you can. It is also highly likely that they have put a tracker on your mother, so we need someone to be able to protect themselves, and someone who can move fast other than you. We could use more than one person, Cecilia could you come along?" Akihiko grinned.

"Hypocrite." Jessica lightly hit his shoulder.

"I'd have to be back later on due to my father needing some help." Cecilia agrees.

"We need one more. Someone who could possibly use something to protect themselves, like a shield of some sort." Jessica says.

"NO! LAURA WILL NOT BE COMING!" Dylan yells.

"So Laura is her name…" His parents whisper to each other.

"BOTH OF YOU!" Dylan throws his hands to the sky.

"They said nothing about Laura coming. You were the one who brought her up." Jordan grins.

"So, we've agreed on who will be coming?" Jessica asks.

"Yeah, I guess we have." The two tomatoes answer.

_**Hey guys! Orionrage29 here! Welcome to the sequel of ROTRM! I only have one vote for what story to do and that's only for a spinoff. Come one guys! Please! I want your input! I'll keep working on TFOTGP for now, but I want you guys to tell me what you want me to do?**_


	2. Golden Coast

Jordan, Cecilia, Dylan, and Laura fly over to an airport, and Jordan paid for the tickets to the US because Akihiko was told to analyze the Silver Gospel and Jessica was going to be a contestant in a tournament there. The four decide that Dylan and Jordan should come under the guise of being a contestant, and, to Jordan and Cecilia's amusement, Cecilia and Laura would go acting like Jordan and Dylans girlfriends, respectively. They all decided that only Dylan and Jordan were strong enough to go into an actual battle. They were able to join, but they're not the only ones who came in with ulterior motives.

-Inside one of the hangers- "Jace, have they arrived?" A man in his dark IS says.

"Yes they have, brother. Right where we want them. 'John Reese'" Jace rolls her eyes.

"I couldn't come in with my real name, now could I? I have made a reputation for myself here already, and 'John Reese' is famous here. We have no quarrel with the people here so I have no need to break them if they find out that their mysterious champion is a world renowned criminal." The man says.

"Still, no one knows your real name, Ralem. It'll still be safe for you to use your real name here." Jace says.

"All the other people get cool nicknames! Why can't I have one?!" Ralem yells.

"I don't have one…" Jace says.

"Oh really shadow assassin?" Ralem turns his head towards Jace, glaring at her.

Jace throws his hands in the air in surrender. "Fine, obsidian archer."

"That's my IS you fricken dunce!" Ralem facepalms.

"Alright, alright, your new cool nickname is John Reese." Jace rolls her eyes. "You act so mature but you're really still just a child."

"I am not!" Ralem squeals.

"Go ahead and prove me right why don't you." Jace mumbles under her breath.

"Let's just start this tournament thing…" Ralem impatiently growls.

"Hello ladies and gentleman, welcome to the golden arena here in lovely california. Our contestants are here and are ready to be announced. I, Jacob Smith, will be the speaker for this event." The speaker yells in a stereotypical voice. "Contestants, please come out of your hangers!"

The crowd yells as IS pilots in their ISs come out of the multiple hangers.

"Here are your contestants!" Smith says and the crowd goes wild and starts chanting out one word, multiple times.

"REESE! REESE! REESE! REESE!" They all scream.

"An obvious crowd favorite! John Reese!" Jacob extends the "J" far past its limits.

Ralem does a bow and smiles.

"And, we'll be welcoming the Italian representative, Jessica Wheeler!" Smith points at her.

The crowd screams with just as much excitement. A few guys hold up some suggestive posters.

"She's taken people, don't get too excited." a few boos come from the crowd, all of them from some muscular guys.

"Now, for their tournament debut. Please welcome, THE WHEELER CLONES DYLAN AND JORDAN! IN THEIR ISs POISON HADES AND BLOODY WRATH!" The speaker holds his hand out towards the two.

One "I love you!" comes from the audience and there are some 'awws' as Jordan flies up to kiss Cecilia and comes back down. The camera zooms in on them and their kiss shows up on a big tv in front of the arena.

"Reese has returned along with his sister-in-arms Jace! Please welcome him to our arena! And joining us from texas, it's the savage Texas Chain! From the criminal-driven streets of detroit, we have Metro! Coming from great britain we have The Redcoat! From the deck of her grand, stolen, ship, the H.M.S. Barrage, we have Skull! This fine young woman here is a Russian Elite! Please welcome Sickle!" The speaker lists off the contestants remaining, coming to a total of 16.

"First line up will be!" Jacob points to the tv and the photos of the contestants move around a tournament layout. "Reese versus Jace! Jessica versus Draco! Jordan versus Serenity! Dylan versus Sickle! Redcoat versus Skull! Texas Chain versus Chuck! Metro versus Terra! Luna versus Sol! Everyone move to your respective arenas!"

Jordan goes to shake Serenities hand and sees Ralem. His calm gaze changes to a glare of hatred, but he returns to his normal face and says hello to his competitor, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you, like he said, I'm Jordan Wheeler." He smiles.

"My real name is Serena Grant, but you can call me Serenity. It's nice to meet you too." She smiles also.

"I think that, for a tournament, I'd rather befriend my opponent before fighting them, can we walk to the arena together?" Jordan asks.

"Alright. First things first I'm taken." She starts off.

"Ha, you saw that kiss cam right? So am I. And I'm not the kind of guy who would hurt the girl he loves, no matter how much it seems like I am a player." Jordan smiles.

"Good. So, what's your IS like?" She looks him in the eyes.

"It's similar to Blue tears, my girlfriends IS, except my drones are stronger and I have energy drain capabilities, what is yours like?" Jordan grins.

"Mine is a speedy close quarters combat IS. It has small blades on it and shield piercers on its palm. I call it Grace." Serena explains.

"So a speedy attacker versus a bulky tank. Seems like I'd be at the disadvantage, except I'm pretty fast myself. I don't think that means I'm gonna win though." Jordan holds his necklace. "What activates your IS?"

"In its resting form it's my ring." Grant holds out her hand.

"Mine is this necklace. I can activate it in origin form with this blood droplet accessory, warrior form with this shield, and into Ball form with this little spike ball accessory right here." Jordan shows her his necklace.

"So, I thought only girls could pilot ISs, what's your story?" She turns to Jordan.

"Like the speaker said, I am a clone of my mother and father. I have mostly my moms genes, including the IS gene." Jordan explains.

"Interesting. You're an interesting guy Jordan." She bumps into him.

"Hey, don't you go and fall for me, got it?" he says, but he's smiling.

"Alright." She smiles back at him.

"So, you know anything about the other contestants?" Jordan asks.

"I know John Reese is a legend here. He debuted here, and he won on his debut tournament. For a champion he is fairly mysterious, he is rarely ever around, but sometimes he stays over here but usually secludes himself. He is not known for being outspoken, if you catch my drift. He seems to be more of a shadow that we never really see. Jace was an infantry woman who worked alongside him. They know each other fairly well, and treat each other as family. Ralem is more of a mid-long range attacker, but is also pretty good in CQC, and Jace is more of a Short-mid range fighter with low long range capabilities. Metro is an all out attacker but her defenses are fairly weak watch out for her really bad backlash." Serena breaths then continues. "Terra is a very interesting pilot. Her IS has no flight capabilities but, instead, can dig into the ground. She sends down drilling drones to surprise attack her enemies. Red Coat is very strategic, and is more of a mid ranged character. Skull is more of a short ranged person with a classic pistol and a flaming sword and portable cannon on its hilt. Texas chain is a maniacal mid range fighter, he has no real strategy and is seriously unpredictable. Chuck is a close quarters combat intimidator. It's actually all robot, so it makes no mistakes, and it does its best to scare its opponent with maniacal laughter, and just scary remarks. Luna is a kind, shy girl. She uses smokescreens to put her enemy in the dark and, due to her infrared scanners she can see her enemy, and she, then, attacks with a scythe. Finally, Sol, her twin sister, is able to temporarily blind her enemies, and uses lasers that uses the energy of the sun."

"Ah, and you know all of this how?" Jordan says.

"Well, I'm a hacker. My mentor was abducted by an infamous group, and I'm very suspicious of Obsidian archer." She explains.

"Would your mentor happen to be Logan Lincoln?" He looks ahead with wide eyes.

"Yes, are you a student of his too?" Grant stops and looks at him.

"No, but we have the same goal. My father was saved by Logans Biotechnology genius. So, our family owes him. We're going to go save his life, would you like to join us? We know the coordinates of the place he is being held at, would you like to help us?" Jordan asks.

"Yes! I'd love to!" Serena says.

"Will your boyfriend be coming also? The more the merrier. We could have him hack into security, if he knows how to hack, that is." Jordan asks as they reach the point where they should split to get to their hangers.

"Umm... " She looks out at someone, smiles, and continues. "I was lying about that. I don't have a boyfriend."

"Okay…" Jordan looks at her and she hugs him out of nowhere. "Whoa, taken, remember?"

"So?" Grant winks at Jordan.

-in the hangers- "Who was she?" Cecilia says, jealous.

"No one you should be worried about." Jordan says and kisses cecilia, just to kiss her, but also because he needs to reassure himself of who was the girl he picked.

"O-okay…" Cecilia smiles.

"Good. Now, I already know her fighting style, and all the others as well. We talked on the way here, as you noticed." Jordan grins.

"Yeah, I noticed." Cecilia rolls her eyes.

"Cecilia, listen, I chose to be with you for a reason." Jordan put his hands on her cheek and looked into her eyes. "If my feelings were that frail, I would never have asked you out."

"Really?" Cecilia looks up at him.

"Yes, really. Cecilia, I love you, never think that someone could replace you, that's not how I work. The word substitution isn't in that dictionary." Jordan pulls Cecilia into an embrace.

"Good, now you stay that way, got it?" Cecilia kisses him.

"I promise." Jordan uses his pointer finger to make a cross over his heart.

"Contestants! Prepare for the first round! The first battle will be between John Reese and his sister-in-arms Jace!" Jacob says over the loudspeaker.

_**Hey guys! Welcome back to another one of my stories! It's orionrage29 here, and I hope that you guys will enjoy this new story. It is a continuation of rise of the red moon. We will be going more into the members of Phantom Task that are the original characters. That means Jace, Ralem Agni, and another, who will make up the special operations task force of Phantom task, known as War Machines. We will also be going into the slightly less explained Lincoln family. I still have only gotten one vote, and I know this is getting annoying, but please, vote for which story, including the spinoffs of ROTRM stated before. The vote is for the story where Jordan ends up with Charlotte instead, so if you'd rather have me doing something else, then you may vote, and I shall take the first 50 or so. I will wait until I get 50, or 6 months, whichever comes first. Please, vote, that's all I ask of you.**_


	3. Tournament

"Contestants, enter the arena!" Smith raises up his hand. Jordan and Serena, in bloody wrath and Grace respectively.

"You ready?" Jordan grins, getting into an offensive position.

"Be gentle, okay?" Serena goes into a seductive position.

"TAKEN, REMEMBER!" Jordan growls.

"I know, but I don't care." Serena starts coming closer.

"that's it…" Jordan thinks. "You know what… I do like you… in fact come a little closer…"

"O-okay!" Serena smiles.

"I love…" Jordan says softly into her ear…

and then he fires off all of his drones and atomic lasers. "Cecilia Alcott!" Jordan yells.

"Ooh, you're clever too!" she grins.

"I am not gonna be persuaded!" Jordan goes into warrior form, takes out Annihilation and does a downward slash, cutting into Graces shield.

"Ah, but that's no fun. why don't you ditch her and go out with me? I saw what she looked like, and I can tell you, I am way more attractive." Serena scoffs.

"I don't care about appearance!" He yells and takes out punisher and tormentor and barrages his foes shield. "Cecilia may be a total pompous brat sometimes, but she's caring-" he does a spinning slash and the atomic lasers make their blast. "She's a kind girl, who is very determined-" a red light starts coming from Jordan and into Tormentor. "And she is the girl I love." A big blast bursts from the zweihander, but Jordan still continues his barrage. "I had lost practically everything, my mom, my dad, my brother, my normal life-" He starts to swing around and multiple crescent blasts come from Punisher. "-but she was there for me. She was always there for me when I needed someone." He pulls out Annihilator again and raises it into the air. "And so, I will never leave her side unless a day comes when I am no longer wanted to be at her side." Jordan brings his blade down.

But Serena was no longer there when his sword pierced through the ground. "Sometimes, the men with the strongest resolve are still tempted by beauty." She says softly.

"Ah, so that's it, you're a temptress." Jordan grins.

"I am not!" Serena growls.

"Not looking so graceful now that you know you can never have me. Such a shame." Jordan shakes his head. Serena yells out in anger, pulls out a lance, and rushes at Jordan. He slashes at her lance and kicks the shoulder of Grace, sending it down towards the ground. Jordan switches into ball form and slams Grace into the ground. Jordan then goes into origin form and shoots an atomic laser into his foe, then grabs her and brings her up into the sky, and then drops down and throws Serena onto the ground and lets out all of his drones and all of his atomic lasers. The atomic lasers start to suck the energy out of Grace, and the drones fire at will. A light pink light comes from Grace and seems to defend her. The atomic lasers enjoy the meal given to them and they then shoot out a burst of energy at their chef, getting ready for seconds. The shield breaks and the drones keep firing, but Jordan jumps back and the laser drones return, because he had gotten a warning, stating that the drones were about to overheat.

Gill-like slits show on the atomic lasers and the laser drones show and steam pumps out of them, and a pink light envelops Serena. Her IS starts to slowly recharge, and her lance grows larger, and spikes angle backwards. "Fallen Grace…" She whispers.

"Alright! This'll be fun! Two second shift ISs facing off. Now that we have that little argument out of the way, let's get back to this fight, shall we?" He tilts his head.

Serena sighs and then looks back up, calmly. "Yes, lets."

"Good." Jordan smiles.

"These two have been duking it out, Jordan obviously winning, but a wild card has been tossed in the form of Grace going into second shift! How will this turn out?" Jacob says over the microphone.

"This chapter isn't over yet!" the two contenders yell in sync.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You treat this as if it's in, like, a story or something." Jacob nervously laughs.

"I have way more where that came from, Serena." Jordan warns.

"Same can be said for me, especially now." She grins.

"Well, why don't you try to get the first attack in?" Jordan taunts her.

"Alright then." She holds back her lance and it starts glowing, like sonic in sonic adventures, whenever he starts to use his spin dash. She rushes forward at high speed, and the lance expands backwards, covering her front, and back, looking similar to a light blue version of metal sonics black shield. Jordan grabs the tip, and uses the backwards momentum in order to throw her down towards the ground. Holes appear in the back of the drill, and exhaust jet engine things come out. and move to a 45 degree angle. then light blue flames come out and the IS starts spinning at high speeds and digs into the ground.

"Hmm… Interesting." Jordan looks into the hole.

-under the ground- "Alright, find his location Fallen Grace." A screen shows up, showing a red dot just above her., She does a little spin underground and comes up. And finds…

Nothing.

He wasn't there. There was, however, a tiny piece of mechanics, lying there, red sparks coming out of it like a flare. She looks over towards the hole and sees that it is slightly bigger than before. Jordan then comes out in ball form and rams straight into her, lifting them both into the air. Jordan flies over to the left and Serena goes back into Rush form. The two charge at each other head-on. Jordan goes up a little, avoiding the sharp point of the elongated lance, and he slammed down on the curve of the lance but Serena used the momentum to turn directly in Jordans direction. She rushes down at jordan and connects. The spear side pushes Jordan down towards the ground, pushing him against the ground. The only thing between him and being impaled is his lessening shield energy. Jordan slips out and flies up into the sky, returns to origin form and holds up a spiral-like object. Red lights go from Bloody wrath into the spiral. Jordan grabs it and throws it at her and it attaches to the bottom of the spear as she struggles to get out of the ground that she pierced through. Just as she gets out of the ground, the little droid activates.

Out of the drone, a similarly shaped laser coiled around Serena. She moved around, trying to shake it off or delay it, but the tiny laser kept coiling up her IS at a constant, unchanging, rate. The laser reached the top and then started to fill in the places that were open. As the feet of her IS were surrounded, the ball started to grow. Inside of the ball, tiny lasers burst at Serena, similar to what the Silver gospel did. As the bursts shoot out, the sphere grows larger and soon caves in on itself and then explodes in a large red light. Serena bursts out of the explosion and falls to the ground.

"Ugh… Wow… you are good…" Serena laughs. Jordan jumps backwards and fires his cannonballs out at her. Serena tries to evade, but they eventually catch up and ram right into the sides of her IS and continue spinning. The cannonballs then explode and Serenas shield energy drops down to zero.


	4. Arena

Dylan walks over to the other arena after watching his brother fight. He walks hand in hand with Laura to keep up the charade that they're in a relationship. Dylan was really nervous about it, which actually went over well, they look as if they were a new couple. Laura was acting really well. She always did get into her missions wholeheartedly, but this time it hurt Dylan. He actually liked this girl, and she was only acting, at least, he thought she was. He knew there was something in her for him, but that Ichika guy took her heart away from him. To be more straightforward, Dylan was jealous. His brother got the girl he loved, why can't Dylan? Did he even have a chance? Ichika was so much more in her eyes, how could he do that?

They reach the hangar and Dylan quickly got out of Lauras grip and walked away, balled fists at his sides. "Is everything okay Dylan?" She asks.

"Not really." he snaps, turning his back to her. "Listen, I know you like Ichika, don't deny it, you know denial doesn't work with me, but I have something that needs to be said. I had been at that place my entire life, when I should've been home, do you have any idea how hard it is to be away from your family and think that they just forgot about you?"

"No, not really." Laura looks down.

"Well it hurts, a whole lot. But I got through it because of one thing, would you like to know what that one thing was?" He turns his head around to look at her.

"Hope?" She replies.

"No!" He turns around. "I got through it because of you! Beautiful, strong, dense," he puts emphasis on that word, "resilient you. You teaching me things about this little project-" he raises his arm "-made my day worth it. I could get through it all, as long as you were there. I love you, Laura. You made me confident, practically everything I know is from you, you make me who I am everyday, I live because everyday I can't stand the thought of not seeing you. That's what's wrong. It's been too long for me to not say anything, and I can't take you acting like you're my girlfriend, that hurts more than when my arm was cut off."

"I-I…" Laura looks at Dylan, shocked.

"No, not yet, don't answer yet, think about it first." Dylan sighs, slightly relieved but also worried. "Wish me luck, okay?"

"Ich liebe dich." She nods her head and hugs him.

"Alright…" He shakes his head, not understanding what it meant, but believing that she had heeded his request.

"If only he knew german…" She thought to herself.

"Everyone! Please welcome the second Rookie debuting today, Dylan Wheeler and his Poison Hades!" Jacob yells. Dylan raises his fist into the air and then crosses his arms after. "And everyones favorite little dominatrix, it's Sickle!" Smith points towards the opposite end of the field, where a girl stands and looks over towards Dylan with a sidelong glance and grins.

Dylan already hates this girl.

Her pose just screamed cockiness. She looked at him through her peripherals, her hands on her hips, and a taunting grin on her face. She lifted up her hand and made the motion for him to come closer, made her IS appear, and pulled out her scythe and a large hammer. The scythe glowed a dark crimson, and the hammer pulsed a brilliant yellow. Dylan couldn't help but hate her. "Alright, she seems to be full of herself, I can use that to my advantage."

"Hey! You! Did you really think it'd be a good idea to come here for your first tournament?" Sickle laughed.

"Yes, yes I do believe this would be a good idea. I have my reasons, and those reasons will not be shared with you." Dylan looks at her calmly yet demeaningly.

"Hmm, seems like you've got some nerve too." Sickle grins.

"I've been told that, however I am not known for being overconfident. I don't exactly think that could be said for you, shall I fix that? Sorry, you have no actual say in the matter because I will be bringing you down to earth." Dylan grins.

"Oh really? I'd like to see you try." Sickle looks him in the eyes, that overconfident flare gone and replaced by rage.

"I won't try, I won't really have to." Dylan smiles, her rage is exactly what he wanted.

"Believe me, I am a very capable opponent." She rushes at him.

"Predictable." Dylan grins, grabs the scythe and hammer, and then fires a soundwave point blank into Sickles face. Sickle leaps backward and rushes again.

-In arena 3 later on- "So, you ready for this Jace?" Ralem says.

"Yes, let's put on a good show, okay?" Jace smiles.

"Yes. This'll be the first time you and I have sparred in a long time." Ralem returns her smile.

"Yeah, that was the first time we met." She pulls her hair behind her ear and turns her head slightly to the side.

"Back in the days when I was actually human…" Ralemtouches his arm and a metallic clang reverberates through the hangar...

-flashback- "It's alright Jace, he'll be back soon, and he'll be stronger than ever. We just need him to make the transfer to check if it works. He'll be perfectly fine, we just need to test out this new technology. We'll be able to sell it for any new projects we have, like your IS for example. Shadow assassin needs to be made, we need to have a third member to war machine, other than Leon Vance and Ralem. His brain will survive long enough for the transfer to be completed. He'll be a stronger version of himself, that's all that'll change." A woman in a skimpy red dress, with long blonde hair.

"Yes, but Squall! He'll be a robot! He'll be a self aware robot! Can you imagine what that's gonna do to him?" Jace pleads.

"Yes, but it is not my problem and he has agreed to let this happen. Will you deny him his wish?" Squall says. Jace had fallen for Ralem just days earlier, he was strong and dependable, he protected his comrades. He was also hopelessly dense sometimes, he has a one-track mind, if he's got a mission on his mind, preparation is the only thing that matters to him. They once decided to spar, and it ended when Ralems lips brushed past Jaces. She was so red and nervous. She ran away right after that and ran straight towards her bed in the barracks. She had looked so scared even though she was so happy. She was so embarrassed yet she was so happy. That was practically a kiss right? She couldn't stay there any longer but the thought was there. She ran right past Leon who turned around, lifted up his hand, reaching out for her, and said something, something along the lines of he has something important to say to her, she heard him but she didn't listen. She ran straight past him, and thought the same thing that Leon whispered, him talking about her, and her thinking about Ralem. "I love you." Leon put his hand down, and Jace ran away, giggling, not hearing what Leon said.

She layed down on her bed and hugged her pillow close to her chest. She started slightly squealing in happiness when the sound of knocking hit her door. Thinking it's another one of the girls, she opened the door to find Ralem there, panting. "Are you… alright?"

"Y-yeah… I-I'm fine. W-what are you d-doing here?" Jace stuttered.

"You ran away fairly fast, I was wondering if something had happened." He wiped the sweat off of his head and sighed.

"Were y-you worried about me?" Jace looked him in the eyes.

"Yes, you're my teammate, I have to be able to fight with and protect you." He said matter-of-factly.

"And that's the only reason?" Jace puffed up her cheeks.

"Do I need another reason?" Ralem looked at her confused.

"Yes! Yes you do!" Jace punched Ralem hard in the face and slams her door closed. Leon walks up to Ralem and sees the bruise Jace made.

"Wow, I've been trying to get her to like me for years and here you are being dense. How do you not realize what just happened?" Leon looked at him, unimpressed.

"She is angry with me?" Ralem looked at Leon.

"What do you think?" Leon leaned forward. "And that's not all dude. The way she ran away from you should have made it obvious."

"What else is there, she hates me now. This will not do well in a mission." Ralem grabbed his chin.

"Mission this, mission that, you need to open your mind to other things, like the feelings of your teammate." Leon crossed his arms.

"What do you mean? You're not making any sense." Ralem turned towards Leon and then remembers what Leon said at first. "No, there's no way that she could've developed…"

"Feelings for you?" Leon finished. "Well, obviously she has. Now she probably only just realized her feelings for you, considering she has never done that before. Why don't you ask her though?"

"A-alright." Ralem stuttered. "Umm, Jace. By any chance would you happen to have f-feelings for me?"

Jace busted through the door.

"Matters, why are you asking?" Jace said quickly.

"Well, y-you're my teammate, and I need to know about these things." Ralem grabbed his arm.

"Don't lie." Jace smiled.

"Okay, I have feelings for you too, Jace. You're dependable, strategic, smart, beautiful, and you know how to keep me sane. Just being around you calms me down." Ralem looked up at her.

"In that case, yes, I do have feelings for you." Jace hugged Ralem.

"Get a room…" Leon walks away, slightly angry at Ralem, but also slightly happy for Jace. "Well, better she be happy than I, right?" he looked up, asking whatever god existed to tell him if that was the right thing to do.

-Tournament- "Yeah… when you were human…" Jace sighs.

"Well, we should get ready. Remember, I have to be the one to move on, I have to face Jessica again. However, that doesn't mean you should take it easy on me." Ralem grabs Jace's hand.

"I know." Jace kisses Ralem, making him step back a little and blush.

"W-wha...W-why…" Ralem stutters.

"Because, you may be a robot but I can still kiss you." Jace smiles.

"J-just get back to your hangar on the other side…" Ralem blushes.

"Alright, Agni." Jace grins.

"And now! The third battle is beginning! Contestants! Get ready!" Smith yells.

_**Hey guys! Heeeeeeeeeere's my story *Peeks through a broken door.* So, it's been a long time, and one person voted… one person… And so, by default, his choice goes. Along with The fall of the golden pheonix, I will be writing A Bloody Revival. The first five chapters will practically be a rewrite of ROTRM but everything will change at chapter 6.**_


	5. Colosseum

Dylan dodges her scythe just in time, the wind in front of his faces blows away and, for a split second, he can't breathe. "You feel that?! My scythe is nicknamed the suffocator for a reason. I can swing it so hard that the air in that area isn't quick enough to be replaced, leaving you breathless!" She gloats.

"I'd be an idiot to not see the air vacuums on the side of your scythe." Dylan shoots another soundwave into her face. "That effect is not your strength, it is that of your machine. It would also be practically impossible unless you moved at a speed above mach five, which would rip your arms off."

"Just shut up!" Sickle yells.

'Why do I just love putting this girl down? Could there be something behind this? She is a beautiful woman, so why do I love hurting her?' Dylan thinks. "You're way too confident in yourself." he says aloud. 'Is that it? Could I be envying her confidence? That might be it...'

"My confidence is what gets me my wins!" She says quite loudly.

"Wow, you must lose very often then." He looks at her, unimpressed.

"JUST SHUT UP!" She throws her scythe at him and it hits the side of Poison Hades.

"Not gonna lie, that was a nice shot." Dylan grabs the scythe and tosses it backwards, making it pierce into the wall. She stumbles at the compliment, and eventually pulls out a hammer.

"T-Thank you…" She hesitates.

"You're welcome." Dylan looks at her, analyzing her. She's off guard now, perfect time to… Her hammer flies straight up as he rushes toward her. It makes contact with big jim and the twins, sending him skywards, along with the pitch of his voice.

"You're not the only one good at deceit!" She yells, flying up to him, raising her hammer again.

"You are good at deceit, but how good are you concealment?" Dylan squeaks, turning invisible.

"Wha… where'd you go?! That's a cheap trick! Show yourself, stinking coward!" Sickle yells.

"There's a difference between cowardice and strategy…" Dylan smirks. He starts to barrage her with attacks that are unseen, but then his 5 minutes were up and he reappeared.

Ralem walks up through the crowd, hand in hand with Jace, and then sits down in his reserved chair, along with the other combatants. He pulls up his heads-up-display and starts to scan his soon to be rival. The speed of the IS is very high, and it's stealth capabilities are high, but it's defenses are fairly low. It also has the ability to steal the shield energy of it's foe by using something along the lines of echolocation. The soundwaves have an uncanny little component. They attach shield energy to themselves, meaning that, not only can it take away shield energy, but the shield energy floating through the air is still capable of taking hits from weapons. However, due to it's focus on high tech offensiveness, it's defense is fairly low. Offensive wise, it outdoes almost every IS, but can be rivaled by Akatsubaki. "He'll make for a fun opponent. Jace? I think I have a very interesting fight on my hands."

"I can see that. You're most likely gonna win though." Jace looked at him with a smile.

"I appreciate your faith in me, Jace, but he did win the last time." Ralem returns her smile

"Yes, but he had his brothers help that time." Jace reminds him.

"His brother was also pretty strong, but I didn't take all that much damage but he took me out in one shot. You shouldn't underestimate him." He looks her in the eyes and then looks back at the battle.

Sickle looks at Dylan just as he reappears, and then tries to slam down on him with her hammer. Dylan kicks her hammer to the side, making her lose her trajectory, and he then stabs the side of her IS with Ghoul, and hits the side of her head with the hilt of Succubus. "Your weapons are too heavy, and their trajectory is too easily deflected. I suggest you get weapons that are easier to handle, like daggers or swords. Possibly some guns, for better long range capabilities."

"AND YOU NEED TO SHUT UP!" Sickle yells.

"Geez, I'm just trying to help you get through the day, and help your performance. I suggest a shotgun instead of your hammer, a shotgun seems to fit you more." He throws up his hands in mock surrender, and sends out a huge sonic blast at her, sending her to the other side of the field, but she stops herself from hitting the wall, that her scythe was embedded in, in the last second.

"My weapons do perfectly fine by themselves." Sickle holds her hand to her chest, trying to calm down.

"I bet, I mean, you obviously were aiming for the ground, and you hit your mark perfectly." Dylan grins.

"Why do you keep insulting me?" She looks down at the ground and says, calmly. "You got a thing for me or something."

"No. Truth be told though, I envy your will, courage, and persistence." Dylan shrugs.

"And so you insult me?" Sickle looks up at him, surprised.

"Part of me… part of me wants to see you break. The other part has complete respect for you. You're only in your first shift, I'm in my second, and you've survived up until now. Now I'm gonna finish this, sound good?" Dylan pulls his knife to his sides.

"I love that idea, except I'll be the one taking you out." She pulls her scythe out of the wall.

"You will have to be able to hit me then!" Dylan bursts to the left.

"I guarantee you that I will be able to." She mirrors Dylans movements.

"Don't get too full of yourself!" Dylan fires off multiple sonic blasts and they all just barely miss. Dylan rushes in with his two knives, but Sickle dodges, stabs Poison Hades in the back with her scythe, uses the momentum in order to throw Dylan onto the ground, and then starts to bring down her hammer. Dylan blasts the hammer away with a sonic blast, jumps up, leans forward, and then does a rocket assisted backflip over Sickle, stabs her in the back with his knives and pulls them out as he fires one final sonic blast, sending her shield energy down to zero.

-about an hour ago, in the other arena with Jace and Ralem-

They both knew how to make it a show. They charged toward each other, Jace with her battleaxe and shield, and Ralem with his pitch black longsword, with a white outline. Ralem slashed, but Jace held up her shield and then sliced upwards with a black battleaxe with small holes and a white outline. Ralem lifts up a small knife gun to intercept the battleaxe and then pulls the trigger. Jace flies back due to the impact, but as she flies back she pulls out her crossbow, firing rapidly. Ralem slices the bolts off of their original trajectory, forcing them to move around in multiple directions, most embedding themselves into the ground. Ralem then charges once again, hitting the tip of the side of her shield, throwing her off balance, and then, using the momentum of his charge, spins around and slashes at her with his combat knife. Jace puts her battleaxe on her back, intercepting the knife slash, and then she uses the spinning momentum to hit Ralem with the flat side of her axe.

"What's the matter, Ralem? Losing your touch?" Jace grins.

"Oh no, just reminiscing the good old days, back when I could face you equally!" Ralem smiles and rapidly fires both of his laser crossbows, barraging Jace with laser bolts straight to her chest. Jace is blasted back, but then holds out her shield. The shield lifts up and reveals a huge gun barrel, similar to Ralems Omega laser.

"You think you're the only one with a big badass laser?! I just got this attachment yesterday, I introduce you to the Alpha Rocket launcher!" The barrel spreads open and 10 missiles blast out of it, all homing in on Ralem. Jace slowly glides to the ground and then vents open up, letting out the exhaust and smoke from the blast, however, Ralem has no chance to take this chance to attack though, he has some missiles to worry about. Ralem flies backwards, flying away from the missiles and smiles.

"You never cease to amaze me. We have a lot of talking to do after this, don't we?" He slices through a missile and it explodes a few seconds after, giving Ralem enough time to fly away. Eight missiles come from behind him and Ralem turns to face them. He starts flying backwards to keep his eyes on the missiles, when he hears something behind him. He turns around… and the ninth missile hits him right in the chest.

"Yes, I believe we do, what do you say we go get some coffee after this?" Jace smiles.

"I'd love that." Ralem winks at her.

"Good, now watch your butt before I blow it up." Jace smiles

"Sorry, I've been too busy looking at yours." Ralem laughs.

"Heh, shut up." Jace rolls her eyes, grinning.

"I don't know, it's very tempting." Ralem winks, and then charges toward Jace, sword out and ready for battle.

"Oh, I know that for sure." She holds up her shield, blocking the strike and then whispers into his ear "We have evidence of that."

"That we do. Maybe some time we could have a bit more thorough evidence, hm?" Ralem grins, and then kicks her shield, making her fly back. Jace, while in the middle of her backflip, shoots the side of Obsidian Archer with her crossbow. Ralem just barely dodges it, and fires back. Jace takes some tips from the Matrix and dodges almost every bolt Ralem shoots, only three hitter her chest, while firing her own. Ralem then rushes towards her with his sword in one hand, and his knife in the other. He shoots from his pistol knife and then slashes down with his sword. Jace holds up her shield but Ralem shoots the bottom of it, knocking her off balance, and then kicks her down onto the ground. He throws his sword through the leg of Jace's IS, pinning her down, flies back, and fires off his omega laser, finishing her off.

Jordan watches from the sidelines. "Dylan… are you seeing this?" He asks.

"Yeah… we're gonna have to train even more to beat him. He's definitely upped his game." Dylan nods.

"Did you analyze their IS's?" Jordan asks.

"Of course." Dylan answers.

"good, we can have mom and dad check it out to see if they can make a strategy to beat him, possibly give us a few upgrades." Jordan smiles.


	6. Hotel

"Now, it's time to discuss the lineup for tomorrow's battles, and man do I hope they're gonna be epic! The first round sure was a grand showdown, now, let's see the lineup for today! Mere minutes or hours ago, Texas Chain massacred Chuck, Skull became true to her name as she was taken out by Redcoat! Jessica defeated Draco almost instantly, and Terra grounded Metro with ease. Jordan took out Serenity with grace, Dylan took Sickle down like snow falls in russia, and Sol was just too bright for Luna. The new line up is!" Jacob Smith points towards a huge screen, and the faces of the remaining people start moving around swiftly. Soon it stops, and the battles were shown on screen.

"Heh, this is gonna be fun!" Jordan grins, looking at the screen. "Hey mom, you ready to defeat me?"

"You're pretty strong son, don't put yourself down, okay? Let's have a fun and fair fight, okay?" Jessica smiles.

"Oh great, facing him already." Dylan instinctively takes a glance towards his next opponent. Ralem stares back, a wide smile on his face.

"Finally, I can get my revenge on him." Ralem thinks.

"Now this is an interesting matchup, mother versus son, rookie versus champion, earth versus sun, murderer versus soldier!" Smith grabs hold of the bar of his balcony area. "This is gonna be fun to watch!"

The crowd, once again, cheers "REESE! REESE! REESE! REESE!" over and over. Ralem turns around and waves to the crowd, and almost every single woman and girl up there gives a resounding "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAH! WE LOVE YOU REESE!"

Every competitor then goes to the dormitories that they have been given for their stay there. The boys on one side, the girls on the other. Dylan, Jordan, and Akihiro lay in the same room, securely locked and walls strong enough to take a large blast.

"So, you guys saw his battle with that Jace girl?" Akihiro looks at them, with stony eyes.

"I totally ship it." Jordan says.

"Stop being your mother, Jordan." Akihiro grins slightly.

"Dad, you know that is scientifically impossible, I am 75% her." Jordan laughs.

"Well then, bring out the 25% of me for now, alright?" Akihiro smiles.

"I can try." Jordan laughs once more, but then goes straight faced. "He obviously was holding back the first time. He is very focused on his objectives. I guess this time his only objective was to win. Will you be alright Dylan? I don't want you to get hurt."

"I will be fine, they'll end the match before he can hurt me too much, don't worry about me." Dylan states.

"Yes, you will. You beat him last time, right?" Akihiro says.

"That time I had Jordan's help. I highly doubt that I can win in a full on offensive fight, so my strategy is to stay off to the side and whittle him down, little by little. I plan to fight a stamina battle, that is Poison Hades' specialty." Dylan explains.

"I don't know if you could just evade forever. I mean, he is quick and, strong. He isn't just some guy who can be read. You have to be a bit more analytical of him during the battle." Jordan looks at Dylan, worried.

"Thanks for the concern, Jordan, but I can read him perfectly fine." Dylan states..

"If you say so." Jordan shrugs.

"I know so." Dylan nods.

"Good, now we have something else to deal with. We need to get those trackers out of you." Akihiro holds out his hand towards Jordan.

"You won't be able to do that." Ralem walks through the door.

"You…" Dylan growls.

"Calm yourself, Dylan." Akihiro holds out his arm. "What are you doing here?"

"Checking in on the new rival, of course." Ralem leans on the door. "You're brother's right, you know? I was just holding back in our last fight. My mission was to put a tracker on you, which, by the way, if it is removed, you will die. It is attached to your spinal chord and will send an electric shock into your brain before you can remove it."

"You're clever, I'll give you that." Akihiro turns towards Ralem.

"Why thank you, I really do love it when-" Ralem starts but then he suddenly can't speak.

"I recommend that you get out of here." Akihiro stares Ralem right in the eyes, one of Akihiro's glowing a bright green.

" What the- What are you doing to me?! Why can I not move?!" Ralem wails but then laughs "Come on, did you really think that I wouldn't have known that one of you would have psychic capabilities? I know that you are after me so that you can get the scientist and his son, and I have taken some pointers from him." A pitch black aura spreads from Ralem, and Akihiro is thrown back. "How did that one song go? Oh yeah! 'Everything you can do, I can do better.' I'll see you in the arena, sound boy."

"Yeah, and you better prepare yourself for a beat down. I beat you once, and I'll do it again."

"Dad, are you alright?" Jordan runs up to Akihiko. "Come on dad, wake up."

"Come on dad, we still need you, wake up!" Dylan shakes his father.

"What... What happened... To me..?" Akihiko holds his head.

"He knocked you backwards, we need to get you to a hospital asap." Jordan helps his father up, and then outside into a car. Jessica eventually ran out to get in beside Akihiko.

"Are you alright, honey?" Jessica puts her hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, dear. Especially since you're here now." Akihiko smiles.

"Oh, you're such a flirt." Jessica rolls her eyes. "An ambulance is coming soon, you'll be just fine, you just hit your head a bit too hard."

"He's fine, but what about his eye? I need to work on that dumb prototype my father made when I was a child. Once he's out of the hospital, send him to me so I can make some upgrades on that out-dated prototype." Says a man in a long, white scientist's coat. Jessica turns to look at the man.

"Who are you? How do you know about his eye?" Jessica stands in front of Akihiko, defensively.

"Did you not hear me? I am the son of the one who made that eye for him. A little less violent welcome would be most appreciated. Does Luke Lincoln ring a bell?" The man pushes up his glasses.


	7. Condominium and Base

"How did you escape?" Jessica looks straight into his eyes, suddenly serious.

"My father distracted them with a handmade emp grenade using the technology in our cell." Luke states.

"So, they still have him?" Akihiko asks.

"Unfortunately, yes. But I have no doubt that my father will be able to escape, especially with your assistance." Luke pushes up his glasses.

"That's right, I'm not going to let people trap uncle Logan without kicking their butts all the way to next week." Jordan grins.

"Just because I have faith in you doesn't mean that it'll be easy. They have as much security as the american president and then some. Do not take them lightly, they are stronger than anything you have seen." Luke stares Jordan in the eye.

"So we'll need a plan, and a really good one." Akihiko puts his hand on Luke's shoulder. "Feeling up to the challenge, Luke?"

"A challenge? Never doubt my intellect, Akihiko. Of course I can, on my way out I was able to hack into the cameras. While I would have been able to hack into many more things given more time, all I could get was the cameras. However, that was all I needed. I have made a virtual map of their entire base, excluding, of course, their secret weapons supply. The cameras also have infrared, so I know where every member is, what they're doing, and how they're doing it." Luke grins.

"What were you talking about faith and it not being easy?" Jordan raises his eyebrow.

"Good point, Jordan." Luke smiles. "However, I was talking about my job as the hacker and navigator. You three will have the hard job of defeating all those we come across. Akihiko, you will have the job of protecting me, after all, your telekinesis can only be used to protect. I will upgrade it once I have the resources to do so."

"Where will we get the resources?" Akihiko leans forward.

"At my lab, of course. Grab hold of something within a mile." Luke starts walking forward."At my lab, but it will take some time for me to complete the upgrade, and I'll need an escort. Those men are still after me, and I have to be protected. Which is why you're coming with me, Akihiko." Luke looks him in the eye.

"We can come, too." Jessica takes a step forward.

"Don't you have a tournament to finish?" Luke asks.

"We only entered this tournament to find the base. You can help us find the base, so we don't need to go to the tournament." Jordan answers.

"Plus, this is a story, not a battle montage. I also have something in store for you over in scotland. Don't worry, Dylan, you'll get that fight with Ralem." Some random teenage boy with wild brown hair walks up to them.

"Who are you?" Luke asks.

"Me? I'm no one important, you just go on with your daily lives." The boy winks at the reader.

"That was… interesting…" Jordan turns around.

"Moving on." Dylan shakes his head. "We need to get to your Lab. Everyone needs to be in top condition for this next fight.

"Agreed." Akihiko stands up, and touches his "eye".

Chapter 7 part 2

Base

Ralem walks back and forth, enraged. "WHY DID YOU NOT PURSUE HIM?!"

"I'm sorry, Ralem, him and his fathers hacking skill were simply too much. Don't worry, we're heightening security right now." A younger girl says.

"Work it harder!" Ralem clenches his fist.

"Don't worry sir, we'll make it better. Just give us about a week and-" She starts.

"DO IT FASTER!" He yells.

"Yes sir, we'll also work on making defenses stronger." The girl nods.

"Good." Ralem sighs, and two men in suits and robotic heads walk by, writing down something and nodding. Jace walks up to Ralem, seeing his anger, and a bit of worry.

"Let's go out." Jace grabs Ralems hand.

"On another date?" Ralem looks her in the eye, obviously grateful.

"Why, of course." Jace pulls herself close to Ralem.

"Where to?" Ralem smiles.

"hmm, how about everywhere? We can go to a park, a beach, catch a movie, and then get some food at some expensive restaurant." Jace tilts her head, smiling an adorable smile.

"That sounds amazing, but first I need to make a call." Ralem shivers.

"To who?" Jace asks, and her answer comes in the form of a few, slightly scared, gestures. "Oh, Him. Why?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. And we need someone to scare the old man into staying. If anyone can take the title of most feared cyborg, it's him." Ralem kisses Jace and then walks into his office.

Later on, he comes out, pale, and shaking. "Let's go, I don't want to see that thing when he gets here." Ralem walks away, quickly.

""Wait up, Ralem!" Jace runs up to his side, looping her hands through his arm.

They go out to the park, walk around, kiss a couple times, and then drive all the way to 'The French Laundry' in Yountville. A young man in a waiter uniform walks over to their table. "Hello sir, I'll be your waiter for today. You may call me Shawson." He pulls out a notepad. "What will you two be having for today?"

"Hm," Ralem picks up the chef's tasting menu "I'll have the charcoal grilled alaskan king crab."

"Great pick sir, and you m'am?" Shawson writes down the order and then looks at Jace.

"I'll have the japanese wagyu sirloin 'Poelee'" Jace smiles.

"Mmm, fantastic choice." He smiles, obviously trying his best to be a stereotypical waiter. He walks to the back with the orders and some yelling can be heard.

"Well, he's an interesting lad." Ralem smiles.

"Something's not right about his act. I consider myself a regular, and I've never seen him here before. Not once." Jace looks towards the kitchen. "However, he shows no malice towards us. We're safe for now."

"As long as you keep some form of self-control, you'll be fine." Shawson says, suddenly behind them.

"What are you talking about? And how did you get there so fast?" Ralem stands up.

"That's confidential information. Only two people that are barely ever in this world know, my best friend and I. Maybe some smart readers can take a guess." He says.

"What are you talking about with self-control? I have quite a lot of self control, mind you." Ralem glares at him.

"The advantage of being human is complete individuality and choice making. Robots don't necessarily have that option." He closes his eyes.

"What do you mean? Stop being so cryptic!" Ralem comes up close to Shawson, grabbing his suit.

He sighs. "You'll find out, sooner or later. Now, if you could remove your hands, I must be leaving."

Ralem let's go of his… leather jacket? Ralem didn't understand what the heck was going on with this teenage boy. Confused, he blinked three times, and on the third time, Shawson was gone, as if he never was there at all. Ralem sat down, staring at the wall where Shawson was just leaning backwards on. "Self-control..?"

"Okay, here's your crab, sir, and here's your wagyu sirloin, Jace." A feminine voice says, putting plates with their food on it in front of them.

"Thank you, Kacie." Jace smiles.

"So, is this the guy you've told me about? How come this is your fourth date, and you've had yet to bring him here, huh?" She grins.

"Yup, this is him. And, sorry, we've been a little busy." Jace explains.

"Oh my, you little scandal girl." She pushes Jace's shoulder.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Kacie, we aren't married yet, so we haven't done that." Jace lies. They talked, ate, and then went straight back to the base. Jace went to the girls bedroom area, and Ralem walked towards his office, trying to keep himself from sweating in fear too much. He knew what he was going to see when he got there.

"Well, Great Leader, where have you been?" A stern, serious voice says sarcastically.

"Hello, Riley." Ralem clears his throat.

"Hey, Dad." Riley smiles. "Now, let's get down to business."


	8. Airplane and Ireland

Akihiro held his hands together, nervous about the upgrade. He had grown attached to his eye, and he worried that the change might hurt him or, even worse, change him. He always was afraid of losing himself. He didn't hate change, in fact he recommended it, but not to such a point where you become a completely different person. Sure, it's romantic to become different for one you love, and it can help you get over a recent break up, but otherwise, it's not needed unless you're trying to grow.

Akihiro did not need to grow, he was perfectly fine. Luke was trying to reassure him that only thing that would change would be his eye, but he was still afraid that all of this would change everything he's ever been. He decides to just let his body rest for the ride, instead of staying awake, worrying the whole trip. As soon as he falls into the land of dreams he immediately regrets it.

In his dream, Ralem stands there, laughing, as Jessica falls, crossbow bolt through her heart. Akihiro rushes at Ralem, only for Jace to stop him. For some reason, Jace started to kiss him. Akihiro took control, pushed her away, and then attacked Ralem, only for him to explode, and Akihiro's body to burn.

He woke up with a start, nearly jumping out of his seat, had he not been in his seat belt. Dylan was right next to him, his head on his shoulder. Akihiro caught him, got back into his previous position, and lay Dylan's head back on his shoulder. 'Nothing's going to change. I am Akihiko Wheeler, always have been, always will be.' he smiles.

"Aki, honey, are you alright?" Jessica walks over and gently grabs his hand.

"I'm alright, just a little nightmare that kind of spooked me. But..." He grabs her hand with both of his.

"Hm? What is it?" She looks into his eyes.

"Promise me…" He returns her gaze. "Promise me that, once the final battle starts, you'll be as careful as you can."

"Honey, I love you, but you know that no matter how careful I get, it might be too dangerous." She puts her other hand behind her back.

"Then promise me you'll do the best you can to survive." He turns his body towards her.

"I promise you, and" Jessica smiles at Dylan, then towards a curled up Jordan "I promise them. I will live through this battle."

"Thank you, Jess." He kisses her. "I love you."

"I love you too, Aki-kun." She kisses him back.

Akihiro smiles and then goes back to sleep, no nightmares this time. Dylan, still laying on his shoulder, smiles, and whispers "I'm never... leaving this family again…"

Jordan wakes up, yawns, and then walks to the back portion, where Luke is working on his laptop. "What you working on back here?"

"I have an idea that'll make infiltration of their base easier. I cannot tell you what I'm working on in case you accidentally spread the word, or in case you tell your parents and the pilot is a spy." He barrages the keyboard quickly, clicks something, a bar goes across the screen as if something was loading or saving, and then Luke closes the laptop, and turns towards Jordan. "I know I sound paranoid, but I try to work in every possibility. Considering the influence of John Reese over this area, and how my personal pilot had to be replaced for a short while, I had to pay for another pilot from this area. I don't trust the people here."

"You just plain don't seem to trust people." Jordan points out.

Luke laughs. "A debate could be made to prove that point, but there are some people I trust."

"Like who? Us?" Jordan asks.

"Yes, you. And, of course, my father. Then again, considering my position, I have to trust you, or else our little arrangement won't work as efficiently as it can." He states.

"You don't have much fun, do you?" Jordan raises an eyebrow.

"I create things that help people, or save them. I get more than enough content from that." He smiles.

"But do you ever just stop working and hang out with friends?" Jordan asks.

"Of course, I used to talk with your father everyday until he left. And I made sure to 'hang out' with him whenever he made the trip back to Ireland." He explains.

"Well, at least you have some social skills." Jordan looks around. "You've done quite a lot with this place. Ever made plans to make this your main, mobile laboratory?"

"Yes, but I'd rather have my normal base nearby my home where my father and I would usually be. A stationary lab works better than one on the move. Plus, I'd rather not have the added payment of plane fuel." He turns to Jordan.

"Well, what do you use this for?" Jordan asks.

"I just like the electronic setting. Plus, I can do all my computer work, and other things on the computer all from here." He leans back on his computer table.

"Well, should I leave you to it?" sighs.

"If you would please, I have work to do. Sorry if I come across as cold, I really would like to help." Luke turns back towards his table.

"See ya' mastermind." Jordan grins.

"hah, just like your mother." He shakes his head, smiling. As soon as Jordan leaves the room, he opens up his computer. "Back to work." A screen pops up, showing a picture of Ralem, and, up above, a title.

**PROJECT INFILTRATION**

Chapter 8.5

Ireland

The plane touched down on the landing strip, and a gentleman waits outside the door. "Young master Luke, where is your father?"

"He's still in the base, don't worry, we already have plans in order to get him out of there." Luke explains.

"Ah, that's good to hear, young master." The butler says.

"You have a butler now? When did you guys get rich?" Akihiro crosses his arms.

"I did make the first artificial eye to grant telekinesis. Everyone wanted one after that. Once it was made public that I could make prosthetics that could enhance brain functionality, my creations were in high demand. We could barely keep up." Luke answers.

"So you guys are living the high life now?" Jessica asks.

"Hah, anything but. We have to go through government every creation and it's a huge hassle. Yes, we have it a lot better than most, but it's still a struggle to get our creations to the public." Luke states.

"Well, at least you have us to keep you sane, right?" Akihiro pats Luke's back.

"Sane? Are you kidding me? My work keeps me sane, you guys remind me that it's healthy to go insane every once in a while." Luke smiles.

"Ha, you got that right." Jessica grins.

"So, now that we're here, it's time to get you that upgrade, isn't it." Luke pulls out a cellphone and dials in a few numbers. He speaks with the other person on the phone, and a helicopter arrives. "Alright guys, we're on our way there." He says, and then turns off the phone.

They take off, and, soon, the laboratory is in sight. Akihiro looks out the door and grins, thinking about the possibilities of his new eye. He talks with Luke about what he'll be capable of after the upgrade. He starts slightly jumping in anticipation. Soon, he'll be able to protect everyone and everything around him. Jordan watched his father with a smile. 'Well, there goes my dad, acting like a kid again.' Jordan rolls his eyes, happy to see his father's true self again. He acts so mature, but he can sometimes be such a child.

"I thought I had forgotten all of this…" Dylan smiles.

"Did you?" Jordan turns towards his brother.

"Not one bit. I missed all of us being together so much…" Dylan looks over, eyes starting to water.

"As do I. I wish we could have been together so much more than what really happened. Oh well, that's a different story for a different time. Possibly. Don't think it would get that far though." Jordan shrugs.

They all talk to each other for a while, Dylan gets caught up even more, everyone talking and having great family time.

Until a noble purple laser hits the helicopters engines.


	9. Stronghold

Jordan stood by the door of the lab, waiting to get his IS back, when Cecilia walks up to him. "What you up to?" She asks, leaning slightly on his arm.

"Nothing much, Einstein in there is upgrading my IS. Making it a bit more efficient." Jordan answers, intertwining her fingers and his.

"Ooo, what's he doing?" Cecilia smiles.

"Making it have stronger, but lighter armor. No different aesthetics, so it still looks the same, but it's just a different material. He's also making my weapons slightly more accurate. But you should see what he's done with my brothers IS after." He grins.

"I'm much more interested in you." She puts her open hand on his chest, staring into his eyes.

"Oh, I know that fully well." Jordan smiles, putting his forehead on hers.

"So, who was that girl you recruited?" Cecilia asked.

"Serena Grace, I have a feeling that I knew her, but I don't know where from." Jordan scratched his head. Cecilia had remembered her once the announcer said her name. She was the girl that she had thought would take Jordan away from her. She wanted nothing but to keep her away from him, but he had brought her onto the team, unknowingly. She was happy that he had no intention of leaving her, but it still didn't make her happy that Serena was back in his life now. Cecilia decided that she might give a show of her affection to her, she is the elitest of the elite, she wasn't going to allow a lesser girl to take away the one she loves.

"She was the girl who you talked to about making that song for me. The girl I thought you liked instead of me." Cecilia explained.

"Oh really? That would explain why she broke up with her boyfriend to try and get with me." Jordan put his hands on Cecilia's waist. "Too bad for her, I only have eyes for you, you are everything that keeps me alive."

Cecilia kisses him gently. "I'm glad. I love you."

"I love you more." Jordan pokes her nose after kissing her back.

"No, I am the elitest of the elite, especially when it comes to loving you." Cecilia grins.

Jordan laughs slightly and holds her close, then lifts her up slightly. "Our love is infinite, so it cannot be measured nor compared, I just like messing with you a little."

"Alright, please tell me that you have all that cheese out of your system now." Dylan rolls his eyes, walking towards them with Laura beside him.

"Oh, come on, you know that you want to do all that with Laura." Jordan looks at him, mischievously.

"Once again, my relationship with Dylan is strictly professional." Laura says, but this time, instead of crossing her arms, she holds one arm, tries to hide her face, and blushes.

"Is everything okay, Laura?" Dylan puts his hand on her shoulder.

"Y-Yes! E-everything is just f-fine!" She blushes more, smiling. Dylan looks into her eyes, then blushes just as intensely as her.

"O-oh." Dylan realizes what's going on, right before Jordan starts singing a particular disney song from a particular movie about a particular mermaid. Cecilia provides the background music.

"S-shut up!" Dylan yells.

"Keep singing…" Laura whispers.

"... keep singing…" Dylan blushes. Jordan and cecilia do as they are told, for once.

"Okay, now that all of you are done with all this romantic stuff that is completely unnecessary for the moment, why don't you two go recalibrate your IS's. As for you two ladies, I believe it's time for you to get some upgrades. Give me your activation modules." Luke comes out of the door, staring at the four of them, annoyed.

"Yes, sir." Jordan puts two fingers against his head, saluting him, and walks away with his necklace. Dylan walks with Jordan, touching the screen on his arm, checking the updates.

"Alright, hand 'em over. I'll be done soon. Updating the stealth on these ones should be easy. Any other requests? I can't do anything too complex, like fourth generation things, that would probably cause the units to overload their own circuits, causing an explosion, killing the pilot." Luke says.

"My IS is already perfect, but it could be a little bit more accurate than before. Also, the rockets could do better with a speed upgrade." Cecilia suggests.

"Also, I could have my armor be more resistant to the recoil of my railgun." Laura adds.

"Got it." Luke writes those down on his paper, along with how to do it, going into complete detail, and then retreats back into his lab.

"So, did you tell him how you feel?" Cecilia asks.

"Yes, in a way." Laura says. "I told him in german…"

"He doesn't know those words in german, he only knows the words that have to do with orders." Cecilia looks at her, slightly worried.

"Yeah…" Laura looks down.

"But he seemed to guess your feelings towards him a while ago, while we were singing to you two." Cecilia perked up. "You'll be able to make him your bride soon enough."

"Husband." Laura said, plainly.

"And she finally gets it." Cecilia laughs, slightly tapping Laura's shoulder. Laura smiles and returns the gesture, harder than she meant to, causing Cecilia to touch her shoulder, but she was still laughing.

"You think he'll ask me soon?" Laura says.

"I know he will, he's probably thinking about it right now." Cecilia leans back on the wall.

-at the small stadium, where Jordan and Dylan were testing out their modified IS's-

He was thinking about it, he was thinking about it quite a lot. Even if he wasn't thinking it, his brother wouldn't have allowed him to not think about it. "Sooooooooooooooo, when are you going to ask her out, dude? You should know by now that she likes you."

"I'll do it later, when I'm not so nervous to do so." Dylan says, his face completely red.

"Then it's never going to happen. Look, we have one day before we go back to the base and attack, the competition will continue in 5 days, since they gave us a week to do any necessary maintenance." He puts his 'hand' on my 'shoulder'. "I can take Cecilia out some place, and you can tell her how you feel again, ask her out, maybe also spend some time with mom."

"So, you want to split up even though we're on a very important mission?" Dylan asks.

"Enough with this mission stuff, what's more important right now is that you know how she feels about you. Plus, I want to spend time with Cecilia while we're here." Jordan rolls his eyes.

"I do not think that that's a good idea…" Dylan frowns.

"Then look at it this way, we're going up against really strong enemies. Maybe we might stand a chance if they were separate as well." Jordan rolls his eyes.

"Fine, fine. If you're going to be so persistent on this subject." Dylan crosses his arms.

"Thank you." Jordan finally shuts up, and they recalibrate and finish testing the modifications. What was he going to do? How was he going to ask her out? First off, he needs to know if she truly loves him back. Secondly, if she does, then he probably should just be calm about it. He didn't want to be too much, or too little. He just has to remain calm, and be natural about it. He knows that she likes him, he just has to be more courageous. He already told her how he feels, and now he just wants to confirm her feelings, and then make it official. Heh, maybe he could kiss her… n-no! W-way t-too bold! … But it'd be w-worth it...


	10. Island

Jordan and Cecilia told them their plans, to go to Valencia island, and how them splitting up, would also split up the enemy.

"You are not going anywhere without me coming along." Akihiro says.

"No, dad, you're needed here." Jordan looks his father in the eyes.

"No, Jess can hold down the fort while us three are gone. Have faith in your mother, won't ya?" Akihiro crosses his arms.

"You just had to put it like that, didn't you?" Jordan sighs and grins. "Alright, Dad, I know you won't back down on this account, so there's no need to argue further."

"Good, son. I'm glad you know me so well." Akihiro nods.

"Whenever you're ready, dad. We'll be leaving soon, I'm just going to cook up some pizzas, spaghetti, and some meatballs." Jordan smiles.

"Good to know. And will Cecilia be cooking anything, also?" Akihiro asks.

"Yeah, she makes some pretty good sandwiches. I think they taste delicious, but for some reason other people aren't seen for two days after they eat them. No idea why, they never made me sick in any way." Jordan scratches the back of his head.

"I wish that they would at least be nicer to me. At least I can make their meals look utterly beautiful." Cecilia crosses her arms.

"Not as beautiful as you are, Cecil." Jordan smiles.

"Of course not." she giggles.

"I see you are also bringing a side of cheese." Dylan and Akihiro say in unison.

"Always." Jordan grins, then walks up to Dylan. "You know what you are going to say, right?"

"Yes, I know what to do." Dylan nods.

"Good." Jordan shakes his brothers hands and hugs him, then hugs his mother. "See you soon, Mom, bro."

"Be safe, you two. If you get hurt, then I will not allow you to go alone again while in times of crisis." Jessica warns him.

"Yes, mom." Jordan nods.

"Alright, I'm ready. Let's go, son, and future daughter in law." Akihiro grins.

"Okay then, let's go." Jordan replies, unfazed. Akihiro looks at him, slightly disappointed.

"What's wrong future father-in-law? You wanted a better reaction?" Cecilia smiles.

"Y-yeah…" Akihiro crosses his arms.

"Too bad, honey, now go." Jessica giggles.

"Alright…" He looks down, slightly and walks out the door, behind them.

"So…" Jessica looks back at Dylan and Laura. "I expect you two to be back by 2:00 and don't do anything that I wouldn't do… not a good example… um… don't do anything Chifuyu wouldn't allow you to do."

"Chifuyu wouldn't allow us to do anything that has to do without being in 50 feet of the school, or in this case, base." Dylan looks her in the eyes.

"Just don't do anything naughty, alright?" Jessica's eye twitches.

"Yes, Ma'am." Dylan says quickly.

"Good, now come hug your mother." Jessica smiles.

"Yes, ma'am." Dylan hugs jessica, then walks out the door, Laura behind him the whole way, trying her best not to stare longingly at his hands.

-an hour later, on the island- "So, Cecil, what do you think they're doing right now?" Jordan asks.

"Considering him, he either has already confessed again, and asked her how she felt, or he is being too shy and they recently started maybe putting their hands near each other." Cecilia giggles.

"Hopefully the first situation is true." Jordan lays back on the ground. "Hey, Dad, you okay? I honestly didn't think that you would have that reaction. Well, I guess I got the steel stomach from Mom. Now what does that have to say about your cooking?"

"You..." Akihiro smiles, but then covers his mouth to stop his bile from escaping his lips, and then releases it after turning around. "You really are our son... Aren't you..?"

"Yup. Without a doubt." Jordan grins.

"That's good..." Akihiro sighs, taking a napkin to wash his face.

"Well, you two, we should probably get going now." Cecilia picks up the empty basket and activates her IS in sync with Jordan. Jordan then lifts up his arm, seeing a message icon appear, he opens it, and, for a split second, hears Dylan's, Laura's, and his mother's voice.

Just then an axe with an eye in the middle practically materialises in between Cecilia and Jordan, along with its wielder.

-55 minutes earlier at The Malt house-

"So, Laura, what do you think?" Dylan looks around, slightly nervous. They were going to have a nice dinner, just talk, be comfortable, and then I can just ask her calmly if she really does love me.

"Um..." Laura looks around "elegant is the word that comes to mind."

"Yeah. I wonder what the food is going to be like. Hopefully it's good. Either way, today's going to be amazing..." Dylan trails off.

"Yeah..." Laura smiles softly. "It will be." Cecilia had told her what was going to happen, and Laura was ecstatic. Today was the day that they would become official. Laura tried her best to not show that she was excited. Yes, she was completely enamored with Ichika before, but that was only because of Chifuyu, at first. She had always seen Dylan as an ally, and outstanding teammate, and their connection was always there, but she always had mistaken his actions as wanting to be a better teammate. If she were to be honest, she loved him a while after their meeting. He was strong, driven, serious, and he was extremely passionate about his goals. However, it was only until Jordan and Cecilia started teasing them that she started to think about him in that light. And, recently, she had been chiding herself for not noticing that she loved him back. Now, she didn't have to worry, because she knew for certain that he held feelings for her, and was starting to act on them. She was silently thanking Jordan, and openly thanking Cecilia.

"Oh, what a lovely couple you two are. What will you be having today? We're having a couple's discount." The waitress asks.

"O-o-oh, w-we're n-not-" Laura starts.

"I'll take the grilled monkfish, crab claw, and clam bouillabaisse please." Dylan says quickly, and, blushing, looks gently into Laura's eyes, making her blush as well.

"So he is starting to think of us as a couple..?" Laura looks at him, slightly surprised, mostly elated.

"And you, young miss?" The waitress turns towards Laura.

"I'll have the 'best of irish' platter, please." She answers.

"Alright, we'll have that done soon, in the meantime, what will you have for drinks?" The waitress smiles.

"I think I'll just have some water, we're not at the legal drinking age yet." Dylan answers.

"Then I guess that's what I'll have also." Laura nods her head.

"Alright, two waters. I'll get those for you in a second." The waitress writes down the orders.

"She was quite excited." Laura smiles.

"Yeah, heh, maybe you'd make a good waitress also." Dylan laughs slightly.

"Oh, you only want to see me in the uniform, don't you?" Laura blushes slightly, giggling.

"That may be part of it, but I still believe that you would do well as one." Dylan turns away his head.

"Alright. After all this fighting is done, how about you, Charlotte, and I get a job as a waiter and waitresses? That would be a nice experience." Laura blushes, nervously.

"Really, that's what you want to do with me over the summer when we're possibly going to be-" Dylan looks back at her, then stops abruptly, blushing intensely.

"Together..?" Laura finishes, hesitantly.

"... Laura... I love you. You know that... I have a feeling that you feel about me the same. However, I want to know the truth, rather than go off of my own thoughts and perceptions." Dylan gently holds her hand. "This may be a stupid question, but, Laura Bodewig, do you love me back? I love you and want to be with you as much as you'll allow me to be."

"Ich liebe dich." Laura repeats, hiding her wide smile.

"What does that mean?" Dylan holds her hand slightly tighter.

Laura pulls him into a kiss. "I love you. That's what it means."

"Oh..." Dylan pulls back, surprised.

"Too bold for you?" Laura smiles.

"No, considering how you practically forced Ichika to marry you." Dylan relaxes, tapping Laura's shoulder with slight force. Laura laughs, holds her shoulder, and returns the gesture.

"So, we're official now?" Laura's face goes to a slightly more serious countenance.

"Yes. I do believe we are." The words sound like heaven to Dylan, knowing that he's finally with the woman of his dreams.

"And this is our first date?" Laura squeezes his hand, slightly.

"Yeah." Dylan intertwines his fingers with hers.

"When did you fall in love with me?" Laura puts one hand under her chin.

"I have to admit, when I first met you, my mind was more on the mission than my teammate. Then Lieutenant started saying weird things about you and I, which made me start thinking about you."

"Then I guess we both need to thank lieutenant, then." Laura smiles.

"How about you? When did you fall for me?" Dylan looks into her eyes.

"I can't pinpoint an exact time, but I started to think about you in that light when Jordan and Cecilia started teasing you and I." Laura returns his gaze.

"Then we have a lot of thanks to give." Dylan laughs a little.

Soon, the food came, they ate, and just talked for a little bit about where they want to go next, and then, about thirty minutes later, they left to get back to the base. It took them twenty minutes to get there, and once they did, they saw Jessica standing in front of the gate.

"What? You guys are back so early? I was kinda hoping that you'd stay out a little later." She tilts her head.

"Says the one who doesn't want us doing anything naughty." Dylan grins.

"I'm still a mother who would love being a grandma, okay?" She laughs, mischievously, causing Dylan and Laura to blush at the thought. "I'm just kidding of course."

"Jordan really is your clone, isn't he?" Dylan rolls his eyes.

"Your brother is more than just a clone, and so are you." Jessica puts her hands on her waist.

"Yeah, yeah." Dylan smiles.

"So, what did you two do? Are you two official now?" She looks at them both, eyes sparkling.

"Yes, Mrs. Wheeler." Laura holds Dylan's arm, pulling her body close to his.

"Please, Laura dear, call me mother in law, I'd love to hear that." She puts her hands behind her back, and grins.

"I highly doubt that you'll survive long enough to legally be called mother in law, Jessica Wheeler." A laser blast hits just beside Jessica's feet.

"So, you came to us, then?" Jessica glares behind the couple.

"You'd think that we'd let you skimper away so easily?" Ralem opens up the exhaust on his crossbow. "That's not how phantom task works!"


	11. Cataclysm

"Who, and what, are you?" Jordan gets into a defensive position.

"Who, me? I'm Riley Agni. But you can call me Wasteland." He grins wide.

"Agni… You're Ralem's son..? Wait... someone actually got with that guy? Who in their right mind would get with that guy, he's psycho!" Jordan exclaims.

"He wasn't always like he is, but he definitely has gone off the deep end. Believe me, it takes one to know one!" Riley pulls out a five pronged bow, and puts five arrows into the slots. "Can you survive in this Waste Land with just you and your little girlfriend?" He fires.

"She's not so little, and you're all alone. Her and I are a perfect team, we can take you down easily." Jordan flies up to Riley's level, dodging the arrows along the way.

"My weapons are just enough to take care of anything you throw at me, Jordan Wheeler!" The arrows hit the ground and explode with a small, greenish, mushroom cloud.

"A radiation IS, eh?" Jordan grins. "You should have high shield energy, but only because your IS is slowly whittling it down. You're strong, but you have terrible stamina!"

"I don't need stamina for taking out anything. I more than make up for it with my power." Riley's smile spreads across his face.

"We're not going to be taken down that easily!" Cecilia fires, but Riley dodges it by simply floating to the side, slightly.

Jordan flies over to Cecilia and whispers into her ear. "I'll get up close and pressure him, you make sure you can take the shot."

"What if I hit you?" Cecilia holds his IS's arm.

"It won't happen, trust me." Jordan activates warrior mode, and pulls out Tormentor and Punisher.

"You're going to use your close combat form against me? That's not the best choice, you know." Riley crosses his arms.

"Yes, I do, but there's a method to my madness." Jordan rushes towards him, firing crescent shots and lasers at him, then he takes a swing at his foe.

Riley pulls out his axe, and brings it down on Jordan's sword. "Your madness? Stupid boy, let me show you the definition of insanity!"

Jordan thrusts Tormentor upwards, throwing Riley off balance, and then makes another slash, bringing Tormentor and Punisher down and up, respectively, making them do a parallel slash. Riley quickly moves back so that the blades only graze his mech, and then he counters with a sideways slash. Jordan moves back to dodge it, but Riley stops the slash, pointing his axe at Jordan, the "eyes" glowing, and an explosion of radiation hits both of them. Riley holds his hands out to slow down, but that Gives Cecilia just enough time to predict his trajectory, and she takes the shot. "Don't you dare forget that I, Cecilia Alcott, the elitest of the elite, am still here!"

"So that's your plan? Not exactly crazy, there's no chance that what you have is madness, just strategical error!" Riley holds out his axe, spinning quickly, creating a circle of radiation around him, which then starts heading straight for Cecilia.

"Says the berserker!" Jordan rushes towards Cecilia, and pulls out a small hilt of a sword, no blade attached. "So he did add a new weapon…"

"What exactly do you think that will do?" Riley laughs.

"It's never a good idea to miss details, idiot!" Jordan holds out the hilt. "Notice the design of this thing?"

Riley takes a closer look "Well, well, that doctor is very clever, isn't he. A new sword, eh? But you can only have three weapons per form, so you got rid of Annihilation, eh?"

"I guess he gave it a little bit of an upgrade, I'll just have to see!" Jordan grabs it with both hands as the radiation disk reaches in front of him.

"Goodbye, Jordan Wheeler." Riley laughs crazily.

"Don't jump to conclusions!" Cecilia yells, firing multiple missiles and lasers at him, and then let's her drones loose.

"And never think that you've taken me out of a fight after you've only hit me a few times!" Jordan holds the, now glowing, hilt out to the side, a huge green laser pops out in the shape of a large, spiked, broadsword. Energy flowed through it, the exact same color as the attack that Riley had unleashed on him earlier. "The bottom of the hilt of this blade is one of my Atomic lasers. It absorbs any kind of energy, including radiation, and turns it into different weapons based on the amount of energy absorbed. You just shot out a huge amount of radiation energy, and so, I get level five, the highest this can go!" Jordan rushes Riley.

"Interesting. You just love using other people's attacks against them, don't you? I won't lie, it's a good strategy." Riley grins. "But do you have any good thing that's just yours?"

"Oh, these are just my defensive abilities, now, here's the real attack!" Jordan holds out his sword and it rapid fires small lasers at Riley.

"Do you truly think that I would let something as small as that hit me?" Riley laughs. "You are naive, Wheeler."

"Only I can call him that!" Cecilia shoots him from the side, hitting her mark.

"So, this is your play, huh? You think you can pressure me so your girlfriend can bring me down? Well played, sir, well played, but what happens if I take your bait and take you out before she can finish me off?" Riley puts five more arrows into his bow and fires.

Jordan returns fire, shooting five of his own projectiles to meet Riley's arrows. "So, what was that you were saying is a tactical error? All I have to do is counter or parry your attacks, and then your IS will defeat itself!"

"Yes, yes, that is quite interesting, except there's one flaw in your plan, my IS can generate it's own shield energy! It'd take a week for it to run out! That's the magic of a tiny power plant in it." Riley looks down at Jordan.

"Then I can just keep whittling your shield energy down until you lose! Every single one of your attacks will have so much energy that I can continuously fight with this sword at full power!" Jordan smiles.

"Well, well, seems like you might be a good fight after all." Riley gives Jordan a crazed smile, and then a noise starts emitting from the center of his IS. "I can finally go all out!"


	12. War zone

Chapter 12

War zone

"Oh, I know fully well how phantom task works. I've been keeping my eyes on every single one of your members. Ralem Agni, you sure do not know how to keep things well hidden." Jessica puts on a fake grin, hiding her fear.

"Or maybe I'm good at torture. I am the reason that you are even here. I have taken control of how you live your life, for a short while. It's quite fun." Ralem smiles.

"I have only given my life to my husband and children!"Jessica rushes forward at blinding speed, pulling out a Khopesh, and a longsword.

"Your Phoenix blades starting things off? I'm flattered you think of me as a threat." he pulls out a long, spiked, black sword, and rushes at her as well.

"I will not allow you to hurt my mother!" Dylan charges towards them with his two knives at the ready.

"Dylan and I just got together, and we hope to be man and wife one day. I will not allow you to take my husband or my soon to be mother in law." Laura calls, shooting out her wire guided daggers.

"L-Laura!" Dylan blushes, but keeps his eyes on Ralem.

"It's okay. You two better be planning to get married, otherwise you won't be lasting long." Jessica slashes at Ralem.

"Does that mean that we have your blessing? " Dylan asks, firing his amp blasters.

"Of course you do, the real challenge will be your father. You know how practical he is." Jess grins, taking out two golden pistols and fires them rapidly.

"How do you think that that would do anything? Your weapons are highly inferior, they are not powerful. They are built to be devastating only in a battle against something like your brothers IS. You are not equipped to handle me." Ralem lets loose a rain of crossbow bolts.

"You will not harm my son!" Jessica flies in front of Dylan and blasts a huge flame ball into the barrage.

"Oh, but of course, Jessica, why would I just harm him, when I could kill all of you?" Ralem fires his crossbows again, pulls out his sword again, and starts charging up an attack, a dark aura starting to surround the blade.

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY BABY BOY!" Jessica yells, rapidly firing her pistol.

"No one can protect another person forever! Eventually, that person will break from the pressure. Your shield energy is not infinite!" He rushes towards her, his blade emanating a, now solidified, black aura, lengthening the blade.

Jessica holds up her sword, stops the blade from hitting her, then pulls out her pistol and shoots at Ralem, but they get blocked by his shield energy. "I am the golden Phoenix! I am immortal! I will stand by my family forever, no matter what!" Jessica yells, firing her pistol more.

"Nothing is immortal. Not even your IS. Yes, it has crisis packs, which can bring your shield energy back up to full. However, you only have two of them. And I know where to find them." Ralem smiles wide. "They are more vulnerable than you think. You are not immortal like the Phoenix! You are all going to lose this fight. "

"Not to the likes of you!" Dylan and Laura say in sync. Dylan fires multiple sound waves at Ralem, and Laura lets her wire guided daggers loose. Ralem dodges out of the way of the daggers, but not of the sound waves, blasting him back.

"Laura! I have a plan of what we can do! Mom, I'm going to need your help with this!" Dylan sends a morse code message to them, and it immediately translates.

Laura nods and replies. "I've been your partner for a long time, now that's just correct in more than one way. Let's go!"

Jessica smiles and sends back her own message. "You're my son, I will not allow harm to come to you, and I will support you no matter what. Ready when you are."

"Alright. Mom, distract him, blind him, do whatever, just try to make him dazed, or stop moving." He sends that, Jessica nods and flies forward, and then he starts one for Laura. "Laura, use your daggers and throw him at me. It's time I used Lincoln's little additions."

Laura smiles and then pulls back her wire guided daggers and prepares to aim. "Alright!"

Jessica repeatedly fires her pistol at him, aiming for the legs of his IS. At random intervals, she rushes at him with her blade. He tries to fire back at her, and tries chasing her, but then she starts going too fast to chase. He just starts firing his homing crossbow bolts only for them to be sliced out of the air. Jessica, then, leaves an opening for Laura, who takes her opportunity and lets her daggers loose.

Which is precisely the moment that everything went wrong. Ralem dodged all the daggers, and threw them at Jessica, who gets caught in them. Dylan gets surrounded by an electronic, purple aura. "Jordan's IS was already strong enough, mine could use a bit more melee strength and firepower. So, say hello to the first psuedo Tertiary shift! The vengeance of the Death god Hades!"

"So, Lincoln has been quite busy, I see. You have to be kidding yourself if you think that it can be totally sustained already. He's not the only one working on it, it's been being worked on by us for a while!" Ralem smirks.

"But you do not have the same connections, nor the intellect, that my father and I have. We hated it, but we got a little help on this project from that Shinonono woman." Luke comes out with a notepad, and multiple devices floating around him.

"Even the scientist wishes to enjoy a battle, eh? Your lab not entertaining enough that you wish to put your life on the line? That's fine by me, I was planning to take your life as well!" Ralem grins.

"Our lives are our own. It's simple scientific fact the there is no way for people's lives to be hijacked without the use of complex machinery." Luke looks at him straight in the eyes.

"Your lives are mine! A mere scientist cannot stop me. It took two second shift IS to take me down, what can you do?" Ralem taunts.

"I am more than just a scientist." Luke smiles. "I have that complex machinery." He takes out a rocket launcher with the words 'the crow' on the side, and fires at Ralem. The rocket hits him, but there is no explosion. Instead, a bright green light emanates from the hole in the IS. Ralem's head falls.

Another, robotic, voice speaks from Ralem's mouth as he lifts his head.

"Operation infiltration is successful."


End file.
